The present invention relates to a vehicular cornering lamp system for variably changing the illuminating direction of a lighting device in accordance with a direction of steering of the vehicle.
Automotive vehicles have a pair of headlamps provided on left and right sides of the front of the vehicle in order to provide illumination in the forward direction. The headlamps are fixedly mounted so as to provide illumination only in the forward direction of the vehicle. As a result, when the vehicle is traveling on a curvy road, it is impossible to always provide sufficient illumination in the direction of movement of the car, sometimes creating a dangerous situation.
To alleviate the above-mentioned problem, there has been recently proposed a cornering lamp system (steering interlock lamp system), wherein the illuminating direction (illuminating angle) of the headlamps is varied in accordance with the rotational angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle, or in accordance with the steering angle of the front wheels, thereby to cause the headlamps to provide illumination continuously in the direction of movement of the vehicle.
In the above-mentioned conventional cornering lamp system, however, because the gear ratio of steering mechanisms varies among vehicle types and models, the correspondence between the rotational angle of the steering wheel and the illuminating angle of the headlamps must be established in accordance with the particular model with which the system is to be used. Further, due to variations in wheel base among different models, the correspondence between the steering angle of the front wheel and the illuminating angle must be established in accordance with the model.